“that is empirical, systematic, and publicly
verifiable. This does not necessarily imply that angels
do not exist or that the question is unimportant. It
simply means that this question is beyond the scope of
scientific investigation.
In Depth
Science and Pseudoscience
The results of scientific investigations are not always correct, but because researchers abide by the criteria of systematic empiricism, public verification, and solvable problems, scientific findings are the most trustworthy source
of knowledge that we have. Unfortunately, not all research findings that appear to be scientific actually are, but
people sometimes have trouble telling the difference. The term pseudoscience refers to claims of evidence that
masquerade as science but in fact violate the basic criteria of scientific investigation that we just discussed (Radner
& Radner, 1982).
NONSYSTEMATIC AND NONEMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
As we have seen, scientists rely on systematic observation. Pseudoscientific”